Atlantic 10 Basketball: Dayton earns valuable win over Rhody without Charles Cooke

With Charles Cooke out, Scoochie Smith and Kendall Pollard carried Dayton past Rhode Island in a Friday night Atlantic 10 basketball showdown.

In a game that will play a major difference in March, the Charles Cooke-less Dayton Flyers were able to escape with a home victory over the Rhode Island Rams, 67-64, on Friday evening.

Dayton’s leading scorer, Cooke, missed the game because of a back injury, however, the Flyers received enough production from two veterans in order to hold off a Rhode Island team that was searching for a big win.

Senior point guard Scoochie Smith was sensational, as he scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, dished out six assists and grabbed five rebounds. Senior forward Kendall Pollard was the ‘Robin’ to Smith’s ‘Batman,’ scoring 18 points and pulling down five rebounds.

In addition to their thriving senior leaders, Dayton also received a lift from their transition offense. They scored 14 fast break points to Rhode Island’s three, and took advantage of 18 Rhody giveaways.

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Dan Hurley’s team has one of the most elite half court defenses in the Atlantic 10, so the Flyers knew coming into this game that their best opportunity to win would come if they managed to get easy buckets.

Dayton shot an efficient 47 percent from the field and only turned the ball over 11 times. That’s excellent offensive production without Cooke, who is averaging a team-high 18.7 points and is shooting 48 percent from the field.

So why is the result of this game so substantial this early in season? The Atlantic 10 doesn’t have a lot of opportunities for quality victories and the regular season title is still wide open.

This isn’t a one-bid league, but Rhode Island is on the outside looking in for an at-large bid and needs to capitalize on all their chances. Dayton and VCU are the only true “quality wins” in the Atlantic 10, and a road victory in the toughest environment in the conference would’ve looked monumental on their resume.

Rhode Island hasn’t earned a true road victory yet this season and have only one quality win (against Cincinnati on a neutral court).

Meanwhile, Dayton has a leg up on everyone else for the regular season title. They’re undefeated in the league and just beat Rhode Island (who many people believe is the second best team in A10) without their best player.

That’s what you call a season changing victory for Archie Miller and company.

This isn’t your typical Dayton Flyers team. They don’t have Dyshawn Pierre or Jordan Sibert, and they lost Josh Cunningham to a season ending injury. They don’t necessarily have the depth that teams of the past have had at their luxury.

Next: Theo Pinson set to return Saturday night

But they still have Smith, Pollard and Cooke: Three guys who work their tail off and know the makings of a winning team. They still defend and they somehow still compete on the boards. As of today, Dayton is the best team in the league and the current favorite for the regular season title.